What simply occurred? The most recent model of the Steam shopper has ended help for Home windows 7, 8, and eight.1. Whereas this can be a bitter tablet for avid gamers who proceed to make use of these legacy working methods, it is not sudden – Valve introduced final 12 months that help for older Home windows variations would finish in 2024.
In an official announcement accompanying its newest replace, Valve said that the latest Steam shopper, launched on November 5, “will not run on Home windows 7 or Home windows 8,” and customers on these working methods won’t obtain additional updates. Home windows customers on legacy variations should now improve to Home windows 10 or 11 to proceed utilizing Steam on their PCs.
Valve additionally ended help for older macOS variations, together with macOS 10.13 Excessive Sierra and macOS 10.14 Mojave. Now, solely Mac customers working macOS 10.15 Catalina or later can entry Steam. The most recent macOS model, macOS 15 Sequoia, was launched in September 2024.
The most recent Steam {hardware} and software program survey reveals that solely a small variety of avid gamers nonetheless use Home windows 7. In keeping with the October 2024 survey, Home windows 11 is the preferred OS on Steam at 48.80 %, whereas Home windows 10 holds the second spot with a 47.46 % share. Home windows 7, in distinction, is utilized by solely 0.28 % of Steam avid gamers, which means Valve’s determination will have an effect on only a few individuals.
Valve defined it wanted to drop help for Home windows 7 and eight as core options in Steam depend on an embedded model of Google Chrome, which not capabilities on these older Home windows variations. The general public-facing model of Google Chrome, nevertheless, nonetheless operates on Home windows 7 and eight, as do most different browsers, together with Firefox, Courageous, and Opera.
Microsoft formally ended help for Home windows 7 again in January 2020, and Home windows 8 reached its end-of-life in January 2023, according to its replace coverage. Home windows 10 can be set to succeed in its end-of-life in October 2025, which suggests customers will doubtless must improve to Home windows 11 or newer to maintain utilizing Steam within the coming years.